Mormugao

Coordinates: 15°24′N 73°48′E / 15.40°N 73.80°E / 15.40; 73.80
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Mormugao
City
GA-06
Websitewww.mmcvasco.com

Mormugao (Portuguese: Mormugão) is a seaport city situated in the eponymous Mormugao taluka (municipality) of the South district, in the Goa state, India. It has a deep natural harbour and remains Goa's chief port.

Towards the end of the

Salcette area, to form Morumugão with Mormugao seaport as its headquarters. The remaining thirty-five settlements were retained in Salcette which encompass the present-day Salcete taluka with Margao as its headquarters.[1]

Geography

Mormugao is located at 15°15′N 73°59′E / 15.25°N 73.98°E / 15.25; 73.98.[2] It has an average elevation of 2 metres (7 feet).

Demographics and Healthcare

As of 2001 India census,[3] Mormugao had a population of 97,085. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Mormugao has an average literacy rate of 75%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 80%, and female literacy is 70%. In Mormugão, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age. Konkani being the state language, Marathi, Kannada, Hindi and English are also spoken.

The Directorate of health services Goa ( DHS) provides secondary level of healthcare to the people of mormugao and nearby places through the erstwhile Chicalim Cottage Hospital at Alto Chicalim now upgraded to the level of Sub District Hospital with 120 beds. The DHS also provides Primary Health Care to the taluka through PHC Casaulim, PHC Cortalim and UHC Vasco. A number of private nursing homes, clinics, panchkarma centers, gyms and physiotherapy centers can also be found in the subdistrict.

History

Breakwater at Mormugao Harbour
Container ship in Mormugao Harbour

When the

colonised parts of Goa in the sixteenth century, they based their operations in the central district of Tiswadi, notably in the international emporium 'City of Goa', now Old Goa
. As threats to their maritime supremacy increased, they built forts on various hillocks, especially along the coast. In 1624, they began to build their fortified town on the headland overlooking Mormugao harbour.

The sultans of

. From 1640 to 1643, the Dutch tried their best to capture Mormugão but were finally driven away.

In 1683, the Portuguese in Goa were in grave danger from the

Francisco de Távora, that he should shift the capital of the Portuguese holdings in India
to Mormugao's formidable fortress.

In 1685, the new city's principal edifices were under construction, with the Jesuit priest Father

Panjim
, which is still Goa's chief city.

During World War II, the harbour of Mormugao was the site of Operation Creek, which resulted in the bombing of a German merchant ship, Ehrenfels, which had secretly been transmitting information to U-boats.[4]

Mormugao Port

Ever since it was accorded the status of a Major Port in 1963, the Mormugao port has contributed immensely to growth of maritime trade in India. It is the leading iron ore exporting port of India with an annual throughput of around 27.33 million tonnes of iron ore traffic.[5]

The

INS Mormugao has been named after the port.[6]

Transport links

Train carrying Iron Ore to Marmagao Port

Epidemics devastated Mormugao during the eighteenth century, but after that its fortunes turned. As the importance of one of India's best natural harbours grew more apparent, Mormugao, which the British called Marmagoa, became a key trading point. It was chosen for the terminus of the new

metre gauge[7] railway linking the Portuguese colony to British India. For a fabulous price, the Western India Portuguese Guaranteed Railways Company, a British enterprise, modernised the port and built the railway. Both were opened to the public in July 1886.[8]

Mormugao's city of Vasco da Gama was planned and built in the early years of the twentieth century. A colourful city of officials, traders and migrant labourers, it had its Portuguese academies and British club life for several decades. Now rather scarred, Mormugão district continues to be unique in Goa.

With

Goa's airport at Dabolim
, the railway terminus at Vasco da Gama, and the busy port, Mormugao is many visitors’ first experience of Goa.

Politics

The area is part of the

had managed to gain lead in all 4 lok sabha constituencies of Mormugao.

Mormugao taluka also elects 4 MLAs to the

.

Climate

Climate data for Mormugao (1981–2010, extremes 1953–2012)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 36.1
(97.0)
37.8
(100.0)
37.7
(99.9)
35.8
(96.4)
38.4
(101.1)
35.5
(95.9)
32.7
(90.9)
32.5
(90.5)
33.2
(91.8)
36.8
(98.2)
36.7
(98.1)
36.6
(97.9)
38.4
(101.1)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 31.8
(89.2)
31.3
(88.3)
31.9
(89.4)
32.8
(91.0)
33.2
(91.8)
30.7
(87.3)
29.2
(84.6)
28.9
(84.0)
29.9
(85.8)
31.6
(88.9)
33.1
(91.6)
32.7
(90.9)
31.4
(88.5)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 21.9
(71.4)
22.3
(72.1)
24.2
(75.6)
26.2
(79.2)
27.1
(80.8)
25.2
(77.4)
24.5
(76.1)
24.2
(75.6)
24.3
(75.7)
24.6
(76.3)
23.8
(74.8)
22.5
(72.5)
24.2
(75.6)
Record low °C (°F) 16.7
(62.1)
17.2
(63.0)
17.3
(63.1)
20.6
(69.1)
20.7
(69.3)
17.0
(62.6)
20.2
(68.4)
19.3
(66.7)
21.1
(70.0)
18.3
(64.9)
12.2
(54.0)
17.2
(63.0)
12.2
(54.0)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 0.4
(0.02)
0.0
(0.0)
0.2
(0.01)
3.7
(0.15)
90.6
(3.57)
831.5
(32.74)
824.5
(32.46)
550.2
(21.66)
256.3
(10.09)
136.0
(5.35)
19.7
(0.78)
5.0
(0.20)
2,718.1
(107.01)
Average rainy days 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.4 3.8 20.6 24.8 23.2 13.0 6.2 1.8 0.4 94.3
Average
relative humidity (%) (at 17:30 IST
)
64 67 71 71 73 84 86 87 83 78 67 63 74
Source: India Meteorological Department[9][10]

Education

Mormugao has many schools of repute which provides quality education to the residents in and around Vasco-da-Gama. Murgaon Education Society was established in 1971 with the noble goal of providing educational facilities at Vasco-da-Gama and in other parts of Murgaon Taluka. Mormugao Educational Society's College of Arts and Commerce locally known as MES College is a famous institution situated in Zuarinagar, which provides higher education in Arts and Commerce along with Birla Institute of Science and Technology (BITS) that caters to university level of education in the fields of engineering and medicine.

See also

  • Ports in India
  • Mormugao Port Trust

References

  1. ^ Pinho, Vasco (2007). "Snapshots" of Indo-Portuguese history, Volume 1. p. 122.
  2. ^ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Mormugao[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 16 June 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  4. ^ "MPT to salvage remnants of German ships wrecked in World War II". The Indian Express. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Mormugao, Mormugao Port Trust Goa, Goa, Official Website of Mormugao Port Trust". Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2009.
  6. ^ "New Navy destroyer to be named after Goa port". Archived from the original on 2 May 2021.
  7. ^ https://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/wp7713/vasco_vindaloo.htm&date=2009-10-26+00:18:43[dead link]
  8. ^ "RECLAIMING VASCO-DA-GAMA, THE PORT TOWN". The Neutral View. 30 January 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  9. ^ "Station: Marmugao (Mormugao) Climatological Table 1981–2010" (PDF). Climatological Normals 1981–2010. India Meteorological Department. January 2015. pp. 501–502. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  10. ^ "Extremes of Temperature & Rainfall for Indian Stations (Up to 2012)" (PDF). India Meteorological Department. December 2016. p. M47. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.